Urrigon Greyjoy
Urrigon Greyjoy 'is the son of Roryn Greyjoy and Runa Volmark, and current Lord of the Iron Islands. He was the third son of his lord father, but is the eldest living. He is the captain of the longship ''Ironheart, and head of House Greyjoy. History Early Years Urrigon Greyjoy was born in Pyke, a relatively easy birth when compared with his two elder brothers. As a son of the Kraken he wanted for little, though as a third son he found his days fairly unregulated - while Roryn dominated the lives of his elder two boys, the younger lads were given more free reign. Urrigon used this freedom to skirt his lessons entirely, leading to him being illiterate even in manhood - instead focusing his attentions on the waves that surrounded his island home. As a boy Urrigon haunted the docks of Lordsport, constantly underfoot or in the way as experienced sailors tried to set about their business. While other lordlings sat through lessons in dimly lit rooms beneath the rheumy eyes of maesters and scholars, the third son of the Ironshod learned them on the hard deck of a longship, taught by men who lived as the gods intended. There the price of a wrong answer was a back-handed clout, while the reward for being correct was much the same. Living and working and learning alongside such men, Urrigon's natural talent for leadership found ample room to blossom. He wasn't some distant lord's son with soft hands, strutting about like he was better; his hands were hard and calloused, his back lined by the kiss of the lash. Crow's feet settled pre-naturally at the corners of his eyes thanks to long days squinting at a shimmering sun-lit sea. To him the banner was a means to an end; he had never felt proud of it in and of itself. While he loved his kin, and his name - the fame of House Greyjoy had ever been the fame of House Greyjoy, not Urrigon himself. Somewhere in those younger years, sleeping beneath a canopy of stars on a gently drifting longship, the young Kraken first realized what he wanted from life. He wanted to be remembered, feared, even respected - but based upon his deeds, and his alone. East After the murder of Urron Greyjoy in 369AC, Urrigon found himself second in line for the Seastone Chair, with his elder brother Torwyn as the only man to stand in his way. Torwyn, however, had always been a hard, cruel man - there was little humour in him, and even less love. The two and had quarreled countless times during the course of their childhoods, and with the elder Greyjoy set to inherit all of their lands and titles, Urrigon realized that life in the Isles would likely be a hard, unhappy thing, should Torwyn in fact ascend. More than that - beneath him Urrigon knew there would be little chance for glories of his own; instead he'd spend the rest of his days serving his brother, the Lord of the Iron Islands, and though this had proven a decent enough lot for Nute, Roryn's own brother, Urrigon could hardly stomach the thought without a sour taste arising in his mouth. But then an opportunity revealed itself in the midst of tragedy and misfortune. For having known of Urron and Andrik's quarrel but choosing to remain quiet, Roryn Greyjoy banished his brother, Nute, for a period of several years. Sensing this as a chance to win fame of his own, and mayhaps escape the fate his brother inheriting seemed to have set up for him, Urrigon pleaded with his father to be allowed to head east as well. At six and ten he was practically a man grown - and so Roryn, unhappily, relented. There was a condition, however - upon his return to the Iron Islands, Urrigon was to wed Lord Harmund Harlaw's only surviving daughter, Ravenna, to complete the reconciliation of the two houses. Urrigon agreed and happily set sail - beginning a journey that he would not return from for nearly ten years. Port Plunder The early years of Nute's exile were spent reaving in the Stepstones and Disputed Lands, sometimes even offering up their services as sellsails and privateers. During these years Urrigon slew his first man, honing his skill with an axe from a mere matter of pride into a life-or-death skill. He learned much and more of sailing, too, braving storms and blockades and shallow sand bars with deftness and skill. After years traveling as they would, however, they came at last to the Basilisk Isles - and the latest iteration of Port Plunder. The rumours of diseases and curses hardly kept the Ironborn from sweeping across the Basilisk Isles, aiming to rid them of what they saw as a greater curse and disease - corsairs. To the ironmen such pirates seemed wholly wrong and perverted; greenlander men, serving false gods, performing the calling of the Ironborn but lacking any of their discipline, rules, or customs. Urrigon and Nute brought fire and scourge down upon their towns and hideaways, taking for themselves whatever plunder there was to be had and setting ships and strongholds alike on fire. After months of this, the Greyjoys and their Ironborn companions - for Nute had taken with him a large host of Ironmen - grew weary. They settled upon the northern tip of one of the islands, using it as a base to launch their forays against corsair and Free City vessel alike. In time their small settlement attracted settlers - vendors and cast-aways but also sailors and artisans and all manner of folk. The Ironborn preyed upon their neighbours, of course, but so did everyone else in the region - to many, the Greyjoys seemed like a welcome third party, combating both the pirates and the merchant-slavers while creating a safe-haven from both. The settlement grew into a village, which in turn grew into a town - a large and prosperous one, eventually taking on the same name as a dozen other previous such locations: Port Plunder. Urrigon, ever on the hunt for ways to forge his own destiny, grew enamored with the town. He spent ages learning how best to fortify it, speaking with any that might be willing to teach an illiterate man. Nute, however, wished to return home now that his exile had ended - only to find that Urrigon had no such intentions. Their quarrel was heated and long, but in the end Nute and his men left, leaving Urrigon and his soldiers to rule Port Plunder as kings. The Storm of Splinters The Free Cities of Essos were not inclined to leave the depredations of the young Greyjoy unchecked, however. After nearly nine years of growing strength and power, Port Plunder finally grew too large a threat to be dismissed. Gathering their fleets together the cities of Volantis, Lys, and Tyrosh swept down upon the city in a battle known as the Storm of Splinters. It was a chaotic thing, full of acts of valor and cowardice. In the end, however, the superior discipline, supply, and craftsmanship of the chartered ships proved indomitable, and one by one the pirate vessels were sunk, captured, or driven away. Urrigon, who had been in the thick of the fighting - saw little choice but to give up the Port as lost. He and his remaining Ironborn sailed away, though the burning of Port Plunder haunted the horizon like a second sunrise for a day and a night thereafter. The Voyages of the Kraken's Son The remaining year of Urrigon's absence was spent traveling the coast of Essos, slowly working from east to west. He spent time in Slaver's Bay, as well as both Volantis and Lys, calling in ports near and far and seeing what there was to be seen in Essos. Finally he would find his way to the Stepstones once more, nearly ten years after he had first left it - only to be greeted by a messenger, one of several sent out to find him. It bore word from Pyke, informing him that his brother Torwyn had passed from an illness. Urrigon Greyjoy was now heir to the Iron Islands. Family * Alva Greyjoy (b. 326AC) * m. Torgon Goodbrother (323-377AC) ** House Goodbrother of Hammerhorn * Roryn “Ironshod” Greyjoy (327-380AC) * m. Runa Volmark (b. 328AC) ** Urron Greyjoy (350-369AC) ** Victaria Greyjoy (b. 353AC) ** Torwyn Greyjoy (353-379AC) ** '''Urrigon Greyjoy (b. 354AC) ** Ewon Greyjoy (b. 355AC) ** Helya Greyjoy (b. 357AC) ** Sigfryd Greyjoy (b. 359AC) ** Otter Pyke (b. 360AC) ** Vickon Greyjoy (b. 361AC) * Nute Greyjoy (b. 328AC) ** Brander Pyke (b. 352AC) ** Tristifer Pyke (354-377AC) ** Harras, Harwyn, Hake - Triplets (b. 355AC) Category:House Greyjoy Category:Ironborn